Mom: when are we opening our presents?
Me: midnight?
Katy: you don't open your presents on xmas?
Me: we're ones to talk, we opened our presents on the 19th…
And now for something completely different
Things I have learned today:
– Two people can fit in the tshirt I'm wearing today. My sister and I have demonstrated this fact.
– We drove down with more things than can be (or rather should have been) fitted in a small car.
– We're starting to feel a bit rundown. I've been having weird headaches and Katy's voice/throat is giving her a bit of grief. I think it's a good thing that she's going to be seeing her ENT when we get back, if only to swear at him.
Besides that, my parents are going warp-speed at the thought of all of us being here for the holidays. If my mom gets any more giddy, she'll run the risk of spontaneously combusting. She's been up since 4am.
There is a definite possibility that we will explode from the massive quantities of food that my mom is offering us. All the time. Constantly. I have secret fears that she's trying to fatten us up for nefarious purposes.
Boris is currently hiding somewhere in our basement. His first meeting with the little dog might be a bit traumatic. We'll see.
Bit of an update for the last few days or, plans? what are plans?
Lets see what I can write about the last few days.
When we got to my sister's place last wednesday night, there was a power failure and we were all wearing tuques and scarves inside the apartment. We went to bed (which was nice for snuggling) and zonked out. We were still on UK time apparently as we were up at 7am to have coffee with Nat.
Headed to Eggspectation for breakfast, where we didn't get to steal a nice full-colour menu but we did score some take-out ones so at least Katy has a souvenir for her scrapbpook. Did a bit of window shopping then headed to the Jardin Botanique and the Biodome before meeting up with people for sushi. The garden has to rank as one of our favouritest places in Montreal. In winter, it's beautiful. Had a bit of a panicky moment when I walked into the Biodome with my shiny new camera. Going from minus digit very dry weather to a tropical rainforest enclosure means that your lense fogs up to hell and gone in the blink of an eye. Go figure. That sorted itself out when we entered the boreal forest enclosure and saw two otters getting it on. So cute!
Sushi was, in a word, glrrmph!!! It sort of freaked me out a bit. Michel and I used to go there every two week or so, sometimes more. When I moved to the UK, Michel continued to go there because it's damn good fish. The management kept on asking about me, and expressed sadness when they were told that I moved overseas. When Michel made reservations last week and told them I was coming, they not only still remembered me (remember that I've been gone since April), they were looking forward to seeing me again and made a huge fuss when we got there. I mean, dayum. I know I was a regular but we never exchanged more than polite conversation. Gave me a nice feeling in my heart but made me blush as well. Sushi was reeeeeeeally good too! It's nice to see that all my friends from various backgrounds like each other.
Then there was Hurleys, which was a bit of a letdown :S It was full of people and we had trouble finding a table. A friend showed up and though I was happy to see him after a such a long time, he pissed me off to no extent by spending the entire evening speaking french to his girlfriend, even though I'd explicitely told him that Katy's french was poor. Hell, he didn't even say hello to her properly beyond introductions. What also pisses me off is that I didn't realize this sooner. Since my french and my english are just as good as each other, I honestly lose track of which language I'm speaking. It's really unfair for Katy when that happens. To be perfectly frank, I'm less than impressed at the boys for their attitute around Katy (this doesn't apply to the people around the sushi table – you all rock and we love you for it). The only person who's made any effort to speak in english to her is the one whose english is the poorest. I appreciate him all the more for that.
Todays plans were a bit hectic. We met Michel and Isablelle for a *very* early breakfast then pootled a bit downtown. Katy's legs were feeling the walk from yesterday (which was made all the worst for not being used to walking in ice and snow). We were supposed to meet the Sequence folk (my old employers and coworkers) for a sushi lunch but – in what seems to be a repeating picture – those plans fell through from lack of time and lack of energy. I went to have coffee with one of the guys (as he was the only one there, the others being called away to other commitments).
So tonight, we're going to take it easy. Katy is in her jammies, I will soon be in mine and I'm going to cook some curries to thank my sister for letting us crash at her place.
other quickies
-It's shocking that if I miss a day of LJ, I have to scroll back 140 entries to catch up. I think I'm watching a few too many communities.
-Chocolate milk in canada rocks. It tastes so much better than what I can find in the UK.
Oh, and just so you all know
A quick entry
A few quick bits that I will expand on later:
– Lugging 30 pounds of prezzies is fucking heavy
– Met Michel and Sara at Weinsteins. Food porn. Watermelon porn. All good.
– My cat is now fucking HUGE! yet still insane and addicted to catnip.
– I have been awake for 2 hours and doing computer tech support for 1.5 of them. Such is my lot in life.
More later, must go eat.
Canadia – day 1 – The more things change…
The key points from yesterday:
- International air travel is boring. We spent 7.5 hours sitting down at 36,000ft
- The little screen above us had shit-poor picture quality and the larger screen at the front of the cabin was projecting in sepiatone. WTF? I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and it was painful because it was between fuzzy reception and blurry sepiatone. Fun.
- Customs at Ottawa airport were interesting because I didn't know if I should declare myself a visitor or a resident. Given that I don't have a current address in Canada, I had to declare myself a visitor to my own damn country :)
- It's somewhat amusing that all our clothing fits inside a carry-on bag, but we still brought a fucking huge and heavy suitcase full of prezzies.
I finished wrapping most of the presents up this morning while Katy was having a nap. It's good that she's finally getting some rest – it'll do her good. I want this trip to be stress-free and fun-filled. I'm looking into how we're going to get to Montreal tomorrow. I'm thinking the train, because that would drop us off directly at Bonaventure, right at the Salon des Metiers d'arts.
It's weird a bit to be back in Canada. It seems that I really settled into Cambridge life. When I walked into my folks' house, I saw all the old surroundings and all my old stuff that I couldn't bring. Like my TV. Damn, that thing was big. From talking to Katy, it probably wouldn't even fit inside our flat.
As to the title of this post, I'm currently fixing my dad's computer :)
Very important note to self
Never, ever, EVER use J&J babywash to shave when you run out of shaving foam unless you enjoy scaring people.
That's something new
Stalking boobs to the tune of the Jaws theme is fun :) It also makes getting dressed quite a workout :)
finally, the mad cleaning rush is over!
All the bits and bobs have been cleaned, vacuumed, polished, de-moulded and put away. Most of the prezzies are wrapped, all the clothing is packed. We're ready to leave for Leicester, which means that we are officially on vacation. Give me a hoo-ah, please.
